Suffering as a method of discipline III

ByPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
Greetings to you, my dear friends! Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! We are talking about how God sometimes allows sorrow and suffering in our lives in order for us to grow in His likeness and see what blessings are hidden in obedience and holiness. We saw that in both Old and New Testaments that God disciplines His children when they open the door for His discipline by being disobedient to His commandments. It says in the Bible: 
«Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects; therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole. He shall deliver you in six troubles, yes, in seven no evil shall touch you» (Job, 5:17-19).
 God can exhort or teach us through punishment and pain, so we shouldn’t refuse or avoid it. God’s chastening can cause wounds, pain, defeat and misfortunes in our lives, but God does it all in love. And when the goal of God’s chastening is reached, He takes all these bad things away and heals us. It is very important to see and understand phrases like «He wounds» and «He bruises» in the context of the whole spirit of the Scripture. They do not mean that God Himself fills our lives with evil, because in accordance to the Epistle of James, God does not tempt with evil: 
«Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor He Himself tempt anyone» (James, 1:13).
 Only the devil is able to do that when we give him place through disobedience and sin. That is why it says in the Book of Proverbs: 
«The LORD has made all for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom» (Proverbs, 16:4).
 When we keep ourselves according to God’s Word and walk in the light, then the evil one cannot touch us: 
 «We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him» (1 John, 5:18).
 If by our disobedience we open the door for the devil, then God lets him enter our lives and it is both a consequence of our sin and a measure of punishment. God allows all those things because He loves us and wants to draw our attention to the fact that we have departed from the right path. God’s chastisement is a sign of His love and favour for us; He treats us as a father treats his children. We see it is the following verse of the Scripture: 
«My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor detest His correction; for whom the LORD loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights» (Proverbs, 3:11-12).
 God chastises us in love and not in anger or for His own pleasure in order to save us. The Scripture assures us of this: 
 «For I am with you,’ says the LORD, ‘to save you; though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, and will not let you go altogether unpunished.’» (Jeremiah, 30:11).
 God does not let go unpunished those whom He loves. And by punishing He does not destroy. Destruction is not a sign of love, but of hatred. LOVE IS THE FOUNDATION AND PREREQUISITE OF DISCIPLINE. Dear mothers and fathers, you that are reading this daily message; please, let me tell you that if you really love your children, you will be willing to discipline them. Love should be the foundation of the parental discipline. Your goal as a parent is to protect your children from the negative consequences that are inevitably caused by sin and disobedience. And God as our Heavenly Father also in interested in His children living a full life in obedience and holiness, and for this very reason He disciplines us. We will continue about it tomorrow! God bless you! Pastor Rufus Ajiboye

Similar Posts

  • God’s Word is spiritual food

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 5 minutes
    God wants us to be strong and healthy not only physically, but also spiritually. We do not need ‘spiritual fasts’. We can have physical fasts in order to gain spiritual power. But in order to become spiritually strong, we should daily feed on the Word. If you do not do it, you get weaker as a believer; you get weaker in your judgments and in your faith.When we get weaker we must ‘eat’ spiritually; that is what God’s Word is there for: «…as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby» (1 Peter, 2:2).

  • The true knowledge of God only come through the One Who is ‘ in the bosom of the Father’ – from Jesus

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    The word “Father’s bosom” means very close to the Father’s heart, to be by the Father’s side or on the Father’s breast. That word was used in John to describe John leaning on Jesus: «Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved» (John, 13:23).So Jesus was close to Father’s heart, and that is why He was able to manifest God to us. The true knowledge of God only come through the One Who is ‘ in the bosom of the Father’ – from Jesus.

  • Responsibility as a Key to Success! II

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 6 minutes
    You may have the throne, a title and a high position; but if you are irresponsible, you will lose authority and power. There is a reward for everything – for being responsible and for being irresponsible. Glory and authority belongs to the responsible people; the irresponsible one get disgrace and reproach.May God help you not shirk your responsibility to others! God will not give you more than you can bear. His grace is sufficient to help and to save you in every situation!

  • Purpose for living VII

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 4 minutes
    Today I would like to complete our discussion about searching for a goal of our life, and how we can find true happiness under the sun. We observed Solomon who measured long and burdensome way looking for his happiness and satisfaction.Thanks God for having it written for us, so that we can avoid the mistakes Solomon mentions in the book of Proverbs. Solomon has understood that life without God is an absolute illusion, but happiness without God is a mirage. This is what he writes as a conclusion to his book:«This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgement, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.» (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

  • Do not live without vision!

    AutorsPastor Rufus Ajiboye Reading Time: 2 minutes
    Today I would like to share with you a word about building or constructing your future. The truth is that we are a product of what we see. In order for us to reach any goals in life, we have to first see (visualize or imagine) them. So many people do not advance and move forward because of the lack of vision; they only live in the ‘now’. Very often people do not have any future plans; they do not have a clue of what goals they want to reach in this life.